The Voice
by Imogene-A
Summary: A voice visits Joe during the night...


"The Voice" 

By: Imogene Amherst

"Joe… follow me…."

It was a beautiful voice; the voice of a woman. The heard-but-not-seen woman would wake Joe up just as he was falling asleep and beckon him to follow her. "Where are you? Why can't I see you?" Joe asked her time and time again. She didn't say anything but, "Joe, follow me." She would say it all night and Joe couldn't sleep because of her.

It all began when Joe was driving the carriage back from town. Hoss and Adam were with him. He'd had a bit to drink and wanted the horses to go faster. Hoss tried to make him slow down, but Joe paid him no attention. The carriage hit quite a bump and overturned, throwing the three of them out. Joe and Adam were alright, but Hoss was unconscious. Adam ran to Hoss. Joe was sitting next to Hoss' motionless body; he was overcome with worry for him. Adam, seeing that Hoss was injured, went for help. Joe just sat there. "Hoss, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Joe said, gazing straight ahead of him into the night.  
Finally, after what seemed to Joe to be an eternity, Adam and Ben rode up on their horses. They ran to Hoss' aid and said nothing to Joe.  
When they had gotten Hoss back to the Ponderosa, Joe went in to see him. Hoss was still unconscious, but Joe knew he could hear him. "Hoss, I should have listened to you when you told me not to drive the carriage. Please forgive me." Tears began to well up in Joe's eyes. He choked them back and left the room. Joe stepped out into the hall where Adam and Ben were standing. Adam's left arm was bruised, but other than that, he was alright. "Adam, Pa, I'm sorry for-" but as Joe was talking, Ben and Adam turned and walked away. Joe stood in the hall for a moment. When the people closest to you are angry with you, it's one of the worst feelings in the world. Joe decided he would go to bed. Maybe tomorrow, things would be different.  
Joe went in his room and got into bed. Sleep was warmly welcomed. Just as he was drifting off, a voice nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Joe… follow me…" it said.

Joe bolted up, "Who's there?" It scared him. "Joe… follow me…"

"Where are you?" There was no answer. Joe sank slowly back down into bed. He rubbed his face and swallowed hard. "Have I gone mad?" he asked himself. He tried to go to sleep but it was no use. He was perplexed about the voice he heard. He knew he heard it. He knew it wasn't his imagination. Where it came from and who it was, that was what he didn't know.

The next morning, Joe went out in the hall. He heard talking coming from Hoss' room. He looked through the cracked door. There sat Hoss in bed, smiling and laughing. Adam and Ben were smiling too. Joe couldn't face them. He knew if he went in, their smiles would turn to frowns and they would give him the cold shoulder. He just listened. "Pa, is Little Joe alright?" Hoss asked. There was silence for a moment; then Bed smiled and answered, "Yes, Hoss, Joe is alright." Joe lowered his head and walked downstairs. "At least Hoss cares." He thought to himself.  
Joe spent the rest of the day walking around the Ponderosa deep in thought about the voice he had heard the night before. When dinner time came, Joe went back to the house. Usually, everyone was eating supper at this time of day, but no one was at the table. Joe went upstairs to Hoss' room. Ben and Adam were in there with Hoss. Joe decided he was going to go in and try to apologize again. Joe walked into the room just as Adam and Ben were leaving Hoss for the night. "You need another good night of rest and then you'll be fine." Ben said as he and Adam walked past Joe. Joe followed them out of the room. "I want to talk to you Pa." Ben still ignored him. It hurt Joe to be treated that way by his own family. "You can't ignore me forever!" Joe shouted after Ben and Adam as they walked back downstairs.  
Joe went in his room and slammed the door behind him. His only hope was that maybe tomorrow when Hoss was able to be up and about again, they wouldn't be so mad at him. As Joe was trying to sleep, the voice came back. "Joe… get up and follow me." It startled him awake. Joe didn't say anything to the voice at first. He tried to ignore it. He couldn't ignore it, however, and finally he answered, "Leave me alone! Won't you just leave me alone? I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep." The voice got louder, "Joe, get up! Now! Get up and follow me!" Needless to say, he lay awake all night, once again.

When the morning came, Joe got up and sat at the end of his bed. He thought about how he hadn't heard the voice since daylight. He made had made up his mind. The next time he heard the melodic voice, he was going to follow it.

Joe went downstairs. Hoss, Adam and Ben were at the table eating breakfast. Joe greeted them. "Pa, did you hear something?" Hoss asked. "No, nothing." Ben answered.  
"Come on, Hoss, let's go start our work." Adam suggested. One by one, they deserted the table and left Joe standing there alone and unanswered. Joe was almost ready to break down and cry. He could understand them being mad at him to an extent, but enough is enough. Joe was tired. He couldn't take his mind off the voice. Something inside him wanted to hear it again more than anything. At night when it would happen, Little Joe would rather sleep, but the cold, callous day made him long for it. Joe went outside where Adam was chopping wood. He thought surely Adam wouldn't keep on playing this juvenile game. "Adam, please talk to me." Joe pleaded. "I'm sorry for what happened, but Hoss is better now. Why won't you talk to me?" Joe stood there for a moment. Adam stopped chopping wood. He leaned on his axe and wiped the sweat off his brow. "Adam?" Joe said again. "Joe. Come back to us." Adam said in a tone of voice Joe had never heard him use before. That was when Joe realized that they weren't ignoring him. The problem was that they couldn't see him. Terrified, Joe ran back into the house. He sat down at the table, breathing hard. He was panicking. He should have known his family would never play a game like that with him.

Dinner time came and Joe stood at the table. "Pa," Hoss said, "do you think he'll wake up?" Ben stared into his plate. After a moment, he looked up. "I don't know, Hoss. I just don't know." Joe's heart broke in two. He wanted his father to know he was there, but there was just no way. Joe hoped that the voice would take him to where he needed to be. He went upstairs and got into bed. He couldn't help but start to fall asleep. No matter what was on his mind, he could sleep. Then, the voice came. "Joe! Wake up! Follow me." Joe sprung up in bed, he took the covers off and jumped to his feet. "Where? Follow you where? Just tell me where and I will follow you!" Just then, Joe felt a hand reach out and grab him. Everything went black. Joe felt as if his body was falling into nothing.

The hand shook him. Joe opened his eyes. Slowly, his vision cleared and he could see it was Ben who was shaking him. Hoss and Adam where by the sides of his bed. "Joe! Joe, son, can you hear me? Wake up Joe!" Joe looked at his father. Happiness filled Joe's being. His father was looking at him, saying his name, talking to him, for the first time in a long time. Tears filled Joe's eyes he sat up in bed and hugged his father. "Easy now, Joe," Ben said smiling and barely holding back tears of joy, "You got quite a bump on your head." "Boy, you sure did!" Hoss added. "I got a bump too, but nothing like yours." "Joe, you don't know how happy we are to have you back." Adam said. The room was beaming with smiles. Little Joe was awake and he was going to be all right.

Joe pondered his experience and came to the conclusion that if he had fallen asleep, he would have never woken up again. The voice didn't let him fall asleep. Joe figured the voice was that of an angel sent from God.


End file.
